Constructional building panel



Aug. 26, 1969 A. BALENCY'BE ARN CONSTRUCTIONAL BUILDING PANEL Filed Oct. 4, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet A. BALENCY-BEARN 3,462,898

CONSTRUCTIONAL BUILDING PANEL Aug. 26, 1969 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 4. 1967 Awmrm 09% VJCD United States Patent 3,462,898 CONSTRUCTIONAL BUILDING PANEL Andr Balency-Bearn, 2 Rue Marechal de Lattre de Tassigny 92, Neuilly-sur-Seine, France Filed Oct. 4, 1967, Ser. No. 672,885 Claims priority, application France, Dec. 7, 1966,

86,428 Int. Cl. E06b 1/24; E04b 1/80, 2/06 U.S. Cl. 52-208 9 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE BACKGROUND or THE INVENTION Field of the invention The invention is particularly concerned with a constructional building panel of the kind having an inner concrete layer, which may or may not be load carrying, an outer concrete layer which is not load carrying, and which may have an outer decorative covering, and, between the two concrete layers a thermally insulating layer of a light material such, for example, as expanded polystyrene or other similar material. In the known forms of such panels the two concrete layers are essentially connected together either by small beams of reinforced concrete disposed along the edges of the panels, by reinforced concrete plugs distributed over the surfaces of the panels, or by the floors or ties of a building incorporating the panels in order to ensure the stability of the outer layer.

It will be appreciated that the inner and outer concrete layers will be subjected respectively to dilferent influences, connected with temperature, hygrometry, vertical loads and additional stresses, lateral wind forces, differential contractions or extensions.

All of these actions tend to produce movements of one of the layers with respect to the other, and if, as is very often the case, the connections between the panels are rigid, such movements cannot occur freely. This gives rise to considerable stresses in the panels which can cause deterioration of the latter, and, in particular, the appearance of cracks therein.

Description of the prior art It is known to died the connections between panels by means of steel rods, stainless or otherwise, which allow a certain relative movement of the layers, but this expedient is unsatisfactory when there is an opening in the panel, because, in order to protect the edge of the insulating material from the weather, the inner and outer concrete layers are joined by a concrete rib disposed at the periphery of the opening and forming a frame to the opening and particularly a window-sill when the opening is a window.

This frame is naturally subjected to the stresses referred to above, and it thus cracks and no longer prevents infiltration of Water between the concrete layers.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a panel free from the aforesaid drawbacks in which the connections between the concrete layers allow considerable liberty of movement of the outer layer with respect to the inner layer, and in which the protection of the thermal insulating material is complete even when openings, and particularly windows, are provided in the panel.

SUMMARY According to the invention, there is provided a constructional building panel comprising an inner concrete layer, an outer concrete layer, and between the concrete layers a thermally insulating layer of insulating material, connecting elements joining together the concrete layers and passing through the insulating layer, some of said elements being disposed in the upper portion of the panel and permitting relative vertical and transverse displace ment of said layers, and some of said elements being disposed in the lower portion of the panel and being arranged primarily to maintain the layers against the thermally insulating layer.

When an opening is formed in the panel the opening is formed by a frame-forming portion integral with and forming a frame comprising a sill, uprights and a lintel. The frame-forming portion extends through the inner concrete layer and into the plane of the free face of the inner concrete layer, and the thermal insulation is so shaped as to follow the frame-forming portion as far as its free edge whereby the insulating layer surrounds the frame and a free edge thereof is located in the plane of the free face of the inner layer.

The freedom of movement of the outer layer is thus preserved and at the same time the thermal insulation is protected against the weather since at the periphery of the opening the free edge of the insulation only appears at the interior of a biulding incorporating the panel, and on the free face of the inner layer.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view, partially cut-away, of one embodiment of a panel according to the invention in which there is an opening intended to receive a window of which only the frame is shown;

FIG. 2 is an elevation of the panel shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a section, to an enlarged scale, along the line II-I-III, FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a section, to an enlarged scale, along the line IV-IV of FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawings, the cladding panel 10 is intended to receive a window and for this purpose has an opening 11.

The panel 10, seen from behind in FIG. 1, comprises, in the usual manner, an inner layer 12 of reinforced concrete which may or may not be load carrying, a thinner outer layer 13 also of reinforced concrete, arranged to receive a decorative facing (not shown), and between the two layers a thermal insulating layer 14 of light material such as expanded polystyrene. The two concrete layers are joined by connecting elements which will be described in detail hereafter.

On its periphery, the panel has grooves or rebates such as 16, 17 intended, for example, in known manner, for forming joints or to join with flooring.

In one embodiment of the invention, the outer layer 13 has a frame-forming portion 20 which is integral therewith and which is directed towards the inner layer and forms a frame for the opening 11. Asshown in FIGS. 1 and 3 the portion 20 forms an oblique windowsill 21, a lintel 22 and uprights 23. The frame-forming portion 20 extends from the rear of the panel into the plane of the free face of the inner layer 12. The lintel and uprights are at right angles to said plane of the free face of the layer, the lintel is at right angles to the uprights, and the sill is upwardly inclined with respect to said plane of the layer 12 (FIG. 3).

The thermal insulation 14 is shaped, for example by moulding, so as to form also a lip portion 24 which is applied against the frame-forming portion 20, the insulation following the latter as far as its free edge 25. The exposed edge 26 of the insulation thus completely surrounds the free edge of the frame-forming portion in the plane of the rear face of the inner layer.

The frame formed by the portions 20 and 24 projects into an opening 28, FIG. 3, of the inner layer 12 and, as already indicated, the free edge 25 of the portion 20 and the free edge 26 of the thermal insulation is located in the plane of the free face of the layer 12.

The frame 30 proper, FIGS. 1 and 3, of the window is housed in a recess 31, FIG. 3, formed in and around the frame-forming portion 20 near to the free edge thereof.

Beading 32 forming a joint cover is fixed to the frame 30 and masks the edge 26 of the thermal insulation around the whole periphery of the opening. Thus, the thermal insulation is protected against the weather since its edge is flush with the inner wall of the panel without the concrete layers being connected together other than by the connecting elements previously mentioned and which are shown in detail in FIG. 4.

The connecting elements comprise elements 35 disposed in the upper portion of the panel and elements 36 located in the lower portion thereof.

Each upper element 35 consists of a wire 37, for example of stainless steel, bent into a zig-zag configuration and disposed in a vertical plane at right-angles to the panel, alternate points of the zig-zag being set respectively in each of the concrete layers 12 and 13. Thus, in the example shown, two points 38 and 39 are anchored in the layer 13 whilst the other points 40, 41 and 42 are anchored in the layer 12 and the wire 37 passes through the thermal insulation 14.

The zig-zag path of the wire 37 comprises a succession of rectilinear portions 43, 44, 45, 46 of which alternate portions 43, 44 are inclined with respect to the vertical by an angle of about 45, the direction of inclination being from top to bottom and from the inner layer towards the outer layer, whilst the other portions 45 and 46, which connect the portions 43, 44, are horizontal.

At its two extremities, the wire 37 ends beyond the two end points 40 and 41 of the zig-zag in two vertical portions 47, 48 directed one towards the other.

The zig-zag points 38, 39, 40, 41, 42 are bent around horizontal iron rods designated by a general reference 50 and set in the concrete. The layer 13 is thus suspended from the layer 12 by its upper portion.

Each connecting element 36 in the lower portion of the panel is constituted by a wire 51, which may also be of stainless steel, extending from one layer to the other, through the thermal insulation and at right-angles to the faces of the panel, each of the two ends of the wire 51 being bent around rods 50.

The connecting elements 35 and 36 are distributed over the length of the panel, as illustrated in FIG. 2, and in the example described, in which the opening 11 is towards one end of the panel and is thus flanked by two unequal panel portions, the connecting elements are disposed only in these panel portions, two of each type in the widest portion and one of each type in the other portion, each upper element being directly above its as sociated lower element.

In the case of a panel without an opening, the connecting elements can, for example, be distributed regularly along the length of the panel. The number can, of course, be varied.

As a result of these arrangements the outer layer 13 is suspended at its upper portion by the elements 35 which are shaped so as to allow, by deformation of the elements, relative vertical and transverse displacement of the layers whilst the connecting elements 36 have the primary role of maintaining the layers 12, 13 against the thermally insulating layer so that there is no gap between the layers. The lower elements 36 by reason of their shape also allow relative displacement of the layers.

If necessary, connecting elements similar to the elements 36 can be placed at the mid-height of the panel, particularly near to the edges of the latter or along the openings, as shown in FIG. 3, which the panel may have.

There are no other connections between the layers themselves, even when the panel has an opening therein, and the arrangement described above enables complete sealing of the opening to be effected and enables the usual concrete beams connecting the layers to be eliminated. The panel is, therefore, not subjected to stresses which can lead to cracking or other faults in the panel, since the frame-work of the window and the window itself are a part of the outer layer and can move freely with the latter relative to the inner layer.

The panel can advantageously be made by moulding. The outer layer 13 is poured first with its decorative covering, its reinforcement and the connecting elements 35 and 36. When the concrete has set, the thermal insulation 14, previously moulded, is placed in position. It is placed on the layer and easily penetrated by the connecting elements without special preparation, and the interior layer 12 is thereafter poured.

The embodiment of the panel described and shown is given merely by way of example and can naturally be varied in many ways.

I claim:

1. A constructional building panel comprising an inner concrete layer, an outer concrete layer, and between the concrete layers a thermally insulating layer of insulating material, connecting elements joining together the concrete layers and passing through the insulating layer, some of said elements being disposed in the upper portion of the panel and permitting relative vertical and transverse displacement of said layers, and some of said elements being disposed in the lower portion of the panel and being arranged primarily to maintain the layers against the thermally insulating layer, the panel having an opening therethrough which is formed by a frame-forming portion integral with the outer concrete layer and forming a frame comprising a sill, uprights and a lintel, the frame-forming portion extending through the inner concrete layer and into the plane of the free face of the inner concrete layer, and the insulating layer being so shaped as to follow the frame-forming portion as far as its free edge, whereby the insulating layer completely surrounds the frame and a free edge thereof is located in the plane of the free face of the inner concrete layer.

2. A panel according to claim 1, wherein a window frame proper is mounted in a recess formed in the frameforming portion near the free edge of said portion.

3. A panel according to claim 2, wherein a joint cover is fixed to the window frame against the free face of the inner concrete layer to mask the free edge of the insulating layer.

4. A panel according to claim 1, wherein the connecting elements for the concrete layers are disposed only in the vertical areas to either side of the opening.

5. A constructional building panel comprising an inner concrete layer, an outer concrete layer, and between the concrete layers a thermally insulating layer of insulating material, connecting elements joining together the concrete layers and passing through the insulating layer, some of said elements being disposed in the upper portion of the panel and permitting relative vertical and transverse displacement of said layers, and some of said elements being disposed in the lower portion of the panel and being arranged primarily to maintain the layers against the thermally insulating layer, the panel having an opening therethrough, each connecting element at the upper portion of the panel comprising a wire bent to zig-zag form and disposed in a vertical plane at right angles to the faces of the panel, alternate points of the zig-zag being anchored respectively in the inner and outer concrete layers and being bent around bars set in the concrete layers, each connecting element at the lower portion of the panel comprising a substantially horizontal wire the extremities of which are bent around rods set respectively in the inner and outer concrete panels, the opening being formed by a frame-forming portion integral with the outer concrete layer and forming a frame comprising a sill, uprights and a lintel, the frame-forming portion extending through the inner concrete layer and into the concrete layer towards the outer concrete layer, the remaining portion or portions being substantially horizontal.

7. A panel according to claim 5, wherein a window frame proper is mounted in a recess formed in the frameforming portion near the free edge of said portion.

8. A panel according to claim 7, wherein a joint cover is fixed to the window frame against the free face of the inner concrete layer to mask the free edge of the insulating layer.

9. A panel according to claim 8, wherein the connecting elements for the concrete layers are disposed only in the vertical areas to either side of the opening.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,078,753 4/ 1937 Christenson et a1. 52-405 X 3,237,357 3/1966 Hutchings 52-169 X FOREIGN PATENTS 481,597 3/ 1952 Canada. 561,231 5/ 1944 Great Britain.

FRANK L. ABBOTT, Primary Examiner SAM D. BURKE, III Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 52223, 573, 612 

